We are approaching that blissful week between the end of final exams and the posting of grades. If you are afraid that you did poorly on a final or two, it may not just be the result of poor study habits: It turns out that your name may be to blame.
Supposedly, people whose names begin with the letter C or D are less likely to do well in school, according to a study reported in Yahoo! News. It's not that people with C and D names are less intelligent, but rather that people tend to be fond of their initials and therefore get less bummed out when receiving those letter grades. The conclusion was based on data from 15,000 graduate students over a 15-year period.
Strangely, the study doesn't say anything about people whose names begin with the letter F. I guess the researchers couldn't find any student that was okay receiving that grade.
The researchers also found that baseball players whose initials include a K – which is commonly used to denote a strikeout – are more likely to strike out than other players. For this part of the experiment, the researchers studied the data of 6,000 baseball players who were in the Major League within the past 93 years.
Frankly, more research has to be done on the topic before I'm willing to believe it. While there may be flaws in the data – such as its small sample size – it’s still an interesting proposition. I’m interested to see if the researchers will follow up this experiment and collect more samples.
The same study also found that people are attracted to words and objects that have to do with their names. The example provided in Live Science is that a man named Jack may be more likely to move to Jacksonville than a man named Phil, who may end up in Philadelphia.
By that logic, I should be fond of a former basketball player, a brand of almonds and a country in the Middle East. But sadly, I can't seem to pick out anything associated with my name that I particularly like.
However, I do usually get along with other people named Jordan, as well as other people whose names begin with the letter J.
Maybe those researchers are on to something.
But please, C and D named students, feel free to prove this study wrong and do well on your finals. Granted, most of you are probably done by now, but it’s worth a shot.
As for the rest of you, I guess you have nothing to worry about – at least until grades are posted.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Reefer Madness
As the semester comes to a close, I'm sure you're all looking for things to do. If you have snorkeling or diving gear – which you should, since we live in Florida – you can check out one of the most bizarre places I've ever heard of: the Neptune Memorial Reef off the coast of Miami. Yes, it's an artificial reef filled with dead people.
The reef is shaped like an ancient, underwater city but has the cremated remains of many deceased people in its columns and other architecture. I'm not sure why someone would pay a minimum of $1,500 to bury someone in the ocean when ashes can be tossed for a fraction of the cost. The only upside I can see is that this method won't get you fined for littering.
Anyway, the production of artificial reefs – with or without dead people – has become popular after the destruction of coral reefs by boats, erosion and, our favorite inconvenient truth, climate changes. Natural reefs are formed when coral, which is a sea anemone-like creature, attaches itself to a sea-floor rock. The coral then divides and conquers the area, and it becomes a massive living organism.
Given that coral takes a long time to grow, artificial reefs aim to speed up the process by giving marine plants a structure to grow on, instead of just waiting for the reef to take a shape of its own. Some of the world's reefs have been around for over 50 million years, according to National Geographic.
And you can't just make a reef out of anything. I'm sure you remember the reef made out of old tires that used to be off the coast of Broward County. Really, I don't see the appeal about a reef made out of 2 million tires, but apparently they thought it was a good idea in the '70s – then again, people in the 1970s also thought rocks would make great pets.
The problem with the tires was that they would be swept away during storms and strong currents. This would cause them to collide with and destroy existing marine structures, such as – drum roll – coral reefs. They also just looked like an underwater tray of doughnuts, which isn't that spectacular.
To get a tour of the Neptune reef – which should have been called Atlantis, after the famous sinking city – without having to dig up your scuba gear, click here to see a video of the cremation reef. I'm not sure why, but the video made me laugh. Maybe it's the music. Or that the fish look strangely out of place.
If you don't plan to venture out into the hot December sun but would still like to experience dead people, you can go see Bodies: The Exhibition at Las Olas from the comfort of air conditioning. Be careful, though: you might learn something.
The reef is shaped like an ancient, underwater city but has the cremated remains of many deceased people in its columns and other architecture. I'm not sure why someone would pay a minimum of $1,500 to bury someone in the ocean when ashes can be tossed for a fraction of the cost. The only upside I can see is that this method won't get you fined for littering.
Anyway, the production of artificial reefs – with or without dead people – has become popular after the destruction of coral reefs by boats, erosion and, our favorite inconvenient truth, climate changes. Natural reefs are formed when coral, which is a sea anemone-like creature, attaches itself to a sea-floor rock. The coral then divides and conquers the area, and it becomes a massive living organism.
Given that coral takes a long time to grow, artificial reefs aim to speed up the process by giving marine plants a structure to grow on, instead of just waiting for the reef to take a shape of its own. Some of the world's reefs have been around for over 50 million years, according to National Geographic.
And you can't just make a reef out of anything. I'm sure you remember the reef made out of old tires that used to be off the coast of Broward County. Really, I don't see the appeal about a reef made out of 2 million tires, but apparently they thought it was a good idea in the '70s – then again, people in the 1970s also thought rocks would make great pets.
The problem with the tires was that they would be swept away during storms and strong currents. This would cause them to collide with and destroy existing marine structures, such as – drum roll – coral reefs. They also just looked like an underwater tray of doughnuts, which isn't that spectacular.
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To get a tour of the Neptune reef – which should have been called Atlantis, after the famous sinking city – without having to dig up your scuba gear, click here to see a video of the cremation reef. I'm not sure why, but the video made me laugh. Maybe it's the music. Or that the fish look strangely out of place.
If you don't plan to venture out into the hot December sun but would still like to experience dead people, you can go see Bodies: The Exhibition at Las Olas from the comfort of air conditioning. Be careful, though: you might learn something.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
Now that black Friday is over with, it's time to actually put thought into the gifts you're buying for the holidays – namely the ones for yourself. Go ahead and buy a nice, big present since everything is on sale. I don't know about you, but everything I bought on black Friday was for myself, as I, too, am a poor college student. Anyway, here are a couple gift ideas inspired by recent technology.
For those of you hooked on gaming, you no longer have to pretend to shoot your enemy... or your friends for that matter. A new vest, which can be hooked up to consoles from the PC to the Nintendo Wii, will actually cause pain in its wearer, at least according to Popular Mechanics. For you non-gamers, the Wii is a gaming console that has a wireless remote instead of a typical controller and is one of the most sought-after systems today. Fortunately for vest wearers, the impact they feel will be nowhere near as intense as if they actually got kneed in the abs or shot in the torso. The "pain" is generated by eight air pressure cells within the vest which react to the action on the television or computer screen.
If you do not want to invest in the vest – since it is $189 plus shipping – you could always push your opponent into a coffee table and blame it on the Wii*. Really, Wii-related injuries are not unheard of; take a look at the Web site Wii Have A Problem and see all the different ways people have been hurting themselves with this system.
Another gift you could give yourself is a tattoo – without the commitment of having it forever. Ink company Freedom-2 has developed a tattoo ink that can be removed from the skin with only one laser treatment, as opposed to the six or seven that it takes with the standard tattoo ink.
This new ink uses a microencapsulation method that will hold the ink in place under the skin. However, when gone over with a laser, the ink disperses and is absorbed by the body.
And in the ever-humorous words of Discover Magazine, these tattoos "work like scratch 'n' sniff," in that a chemical is held together in a little ball when left alone but disperses when agitated.
So go ahead: get your girlfriend's name on your arm or that tribal sun you know you'll regret tomorrow.** I don't recommend that you actually scratch and sniff it, though, especially when it's new – that could make the ink blotchy, and it probably won't smell like strawberries.
*Please, don't really do this, since I don't want to be held responsible for your moronic actions. Frankly, I don't even want to be responsible for my own moronic actions, but I have no one to blame but myself.
**See above.
For those of you hooked on gaming, you no longer have to pretend to shoot your enemy... or your friends for that matter. A new vest, which can be hooked up to consoles from the PC to the Nintendo Wii, will actually cause pain in its wearer, at least according to Popular Mechanics. For you non-gamers, the Wii is a gaming console that has a wireless remote instead of a typical controller and is one of the most sought-after systems today. Fortunately for vest wearers, the impact they feel will be nowhere near as intense as if they actually got kneed in the abs or shot in the torso. The "pain" is generated by eight air pressure cells within the vest which react to the action on the television or computer screen.
If you do not want to invest in the vest – since it is $189 plus shipping – you could always push your opponent into a coffee table and blame it on the Wii*. Really, Wii-related injuries are not unheard of; take a look at the Web site Wii Have A Problem and see all the different ways people have been hurting themselves with this system.
Another gift you could give yourself is a tattoo – without the commitment of having it forever. Ink company Freedom-2 has developed a tattoo ink that can be removed from the skin with only one laser treatment, as opposed to the six or seven that it takes with the standard tattoo ink.
This new ink uses a microencapsulation method that will hold the ink in place under the skin. However, when gone over with a laser, the ink disperses and is absorbed by the body.
And in the ever-humorous words of Discover Magazine, these tattoos "work like scratch 'n' sniff," in that a chemical is held together in a little ball when left alone but disperses when agitated.
So go ahead: get your girlfriend's name on your arm or that tribal sun you know you'll regret tomorrow.** I don't recommend that you actually scratch and sniff it, though, especially when it's new – that could make the ink blotchy, and it probably won't smell like strawberries.
*Please, don't really do this, since I don't want to be held responsible for your moronic actions. Frankly, I don't even want to be responsible for my own moronic actions, but I have no one to blame but myself.
**See above.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Dissecting Your Meal
For many out-of-town students, Thanksgiving is one of the first opportunities to return home to the family. In an effort to cut down on some of the awkward conversations – like the ever-dreaded "what have you been learning about in school" conversations – here are some little-known facts about some traditional Thanksgiving food items that may help you change the subject.
Or, you know, make it look like you learned something this semester.
Food: Pumpkins
Who to target: Your grandparents and other diabetics
Pumpkin extracts may help prevent diabetes and may help current diabetics keep their blood sugar levels down, according to Science Daily. The extracts have been shown to help regenerate pancreatic cells in rats, which places more insulin into the bloodstream. Type 1 diabetics will still have to inject themselves with insulin on a daily basis, but the pumpkin extract may help cut down on the number of injections needed.
Unfortunately, eating a slice of pumpkin pie this year probably won't help you if you are diabetic. It goes without saying that if it is not sugar free, there is a chance that it may still spike your blood sugar.
Food: Cranberries
Who to target: The people who are afraid of germs (there's at least one in every family).
Compounds found in these little red berries are able to stop E. coli, the monster behind all sorts of food poisonings, before the bacteria becomes an infection, according to Science Daily. No one is really sure why, but the cranberry compounds prevent the bacteria from sticking to the cells in the body.
Now all you have to do is get over the taste of the cranberry sauce, although there is no guarantee that the canned kind has any cranberry content at all.
Food: Turkey
Who to target: The ones who seem mentally-unstable
Besides just making you sleepy, the l-tryptophan found in turkey can be metabolized into serotonin – the brain chemical we are always hearing about in those depression commercials. Serotonin essentially makes you feel less sorry for yourself and believe that life is worth living.
Unless you are a turkey, because then your life is for eating. Anyway, if there becomes a heated debate at the dinner table, you can tell them all to shove it – and by it, I mean their mouths – with turkey.
Visual Stimulation
Who to target: Everyone else
For those of you who prefer to look at pictures instead of words, Wired posted some neat photos of food under a microscope.
My favorite photo is the beer, and it's not just because I like to drink it.
Well, maybe it is, since beer also prevents awkward conversations.
Or, you know, make it look like you learned something this semester.
Food: Pumpkins
Who to target: Your grandparents and other diabetics
Pumpkin extracts may help prevent diabetes and may help current diabetics keep their blood sugar levels down, according to Science Daily. The extracts have been shown to help regenerate pancreatic cells in rats, which places more insulin into the bloodstream. Type 1 diabetics will still have to inject themselves with insulin on a daily basis, but the pumpkin extract may help cut down on the number of injections needed.
Unfortunately, eating a slice of pumpkin pie this year probably won't help you if you are diabetic. It goes without saying that if it is not sugar free, there is a chance that it may still spike your blood sugar.
Food: Cranberries
Who to target: The people who are afraid of germs (there's at least one in every family).
Compounds found in these little red berries are able to stop E. coli, the monster behind all sorts of food poisonings, before the bacteria becomes an infection, according to Science Daily. No one is really sure why, but the cranberry compounds prevent the bacteria from sticking to the cells in the body.
Now all you have to do is get over the taste of the cranberry sauce, although there is no guarantee that the canned kind has any cranberry content at all.
Food: Turkey
Who to target: The ones who seem mentally-unstable
Besides just making you sleepy, the l-tryptophan found in turkey can be metabolized into serotonin – the brain chemical we are always hearing about in those depression commercials. Serotonin essentially makes you feel less sorry for yourself and believe that life is worth living.
Unless you are a turkey, because then your life is for eating. Anyway, if there becomes a heated debate at the dinner table, you can tell them all to shove it – and by it, I mean their mouths – with turkey.
Visual Stimulation
Who to target: Everyone else
For those of you who prefer to look at pictures instead of words, Wired posted some neat photos of food under a microscope.
My favorite photo is the beer, and it's not just because I like to drink it.
Well, maybe it is, since beer also prevents awkward conversations.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
It's Only A Day Away
I'm sure there's something important you could be doing right now, but chances are you are waiting until the last minute to do it. It's ok: 90 percent of college students are guilty of procrastination, at least according to LiveScience. And now, thanks to a 10-year study, science has finally determined why people put things off until tomorrow ... sort of.
According to professor Piers Steel of the University of Calgary, we procrastinate because we are impulsive, and we need that jolt of pressure toward the end of a deadline to actually get tasks accomplished.
And here I thought I was just more productive in the morning; turns out that I just need that extra push to get things done.
Anyway, college students are impulsive by nature - really, how many times have you crammed for a test - so it makes sense that we are the largest contributors to the procrastination population. Out of the total population, procrastinators only make up 15 to 20 percent, which shows that we may eventually grow out of this awful habit.
Or it could just be an indication that 80 to 85 percent of the population doesn't use the Internet, which is the greatest procrastination tool since the television. It seems like we procrastinators thrive on instant gratification, and apparently Steel agrees.
"[Procrastinators] are the type of people who choose short-term gain and incur long-term pain," Steel told LiveScience.
Yep, that sounds like college: the land where the short term goal of having an active social life sometimes trump the long-term goal of graduating on time.
Granted, this is FAU. I'm sure there are plenty of students who don't get to graduate on time for reasons beyond their control, such as the small class sizes of many required courses and having to fight for department permission.
Anyway, for all you math people, Steel also says that procrastination can be described using the following formula:
U = E x V / I x D
According to Scientific American, U is a person's desire to finish the task (e.g. homework), E is the person's expectation of success, V is the value of the completed task, I is the immediacy in which the task needed to be done, and D is the person's sensitivity to delay.
I think the formula's just another excuse to waste time. I'm sure Steel used a considerable amount of time coming up with the formula when he could have been doing other things. I know I spent a considerable amount of time looking at the formula when I could have been doing homework.
Or, you know, surfing Facebook.
According to professor Piers Steel of the University of Calgary, we procrastinate because we are impulsive, and we need that jolt of pressure toward the end of a deadline to actually get tasks accomplished.
And here I thought I was just more productive in the morning; turns out that I just need that extra push to get things done.
Anyway, college students are impulsive by nature - really, how many times have you crammed for a test - so it makes sense that we are the largest contributors to the procrastination population. Out of the total population, procrastinators only make up 15 to 20 percent, which shows that we may eventually grow out of this awful habit.
Or it could just be an indication that 80 to 85 percent of the population doesn't use the Internet, which is the greatest procrastination tool since the television. It seems like we procrastinators thrive on instant gratification, and apparently Steel agrees.
"[Procrastinators] are the type of people who choose short-term gain and incur long-term pain," Steel told LiveScience.
Yep, that sounds like college: the land where the short term goal of having an active social life sometimes trump the long-term goal of graduating on time.
Granted, this is FAU. I'm sure there are plenty of students who don't get to graduate on time for reasons beyond their control, such as the small class sizes of many required courses and having to fight for department permission.
Anyway, for all you math people, Steel also says that procrastination can be described using the following formula:
U = E x V / I x D
According to Scientific American, U is a person's desire to finish the task (e.g. homework), E is the person's expectation of success, V is the value of the completed task, I is the immediacy in which the task needed to be done, and D is the person's sensitivity to delay.
I think the formula's just another excuse to waste time. I'm sure Steel used a considerable amount of time coming up with the formula when he could have been doing other things. I know I spent a considerable amount of time looking at the formula when I could have been doing homework.
Or, you know, surfing Facebook.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Under the Sea
Here at FAU, we all live within driving distance of the ocean - some of us are even within walking distance. In fact, we even have a campus called SeaTech with an ocean engineering department. Whether or not you enjoy the beach, there are some fascinating creatures that live under the sea.
For instance, scientists discovered the oldest living animal at the bottom of the ocean - that is, until they killed it. The approximately 405-year-old clam was just, well, doing whatever clams do off the coast of Iceland when it was picked up by researchers and killed. In their defense, it looked just like any other clam.
Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed that the oldest living animal turned out to be a clam. I was hoping that it would be a tortoise or, by some stroke of luck, a giant gorilla; maybe I'm just strangely partial to land animals. (I'm not going to lie; fish freak me out a little bit.)
Anyway, besides just being good for a photo op, the scientists plan to use the clam to track climate changes in the past by analyzing the rings on its shell; that's also how the scientists figured out the age of the clam. I'd hate to be the researcher who had to sit down and count all the lines on the clamshell. That has to be the most tedious job in the world, but I guess someone had to draw the short straw.
Another magical creature we've found at the bottom of the ocean is the ever-vicious cone snail. Apparently there's a deadly snail and its venom can paralyze a person, according to LiveScience. Fortunately, the venom also has benefits, such as possible treatment for strokes and chronic pain.
I still think it's neat that we can turn components of lethal venom into a treatment, especially from a creature as ugly as a snail. Granted, the treatments are still in the laboratory, but it's a step in the right direction.
If you would like to learn more about the killer snails, Frank Marí, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry here at FAU, is giving a presentation on the snail's benefits on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 3:30 p.m. The presentation will take place in the Charles E. Schmidt Biomedical Science Center in room 126 on the Boca campus.
Or you could skip the presentation and just go to the beach instead.
For instance, scientists discovered the oldest living animal at the bottom of the ocean - that is, until they killed it. The approximately 405-year-old clam was just, well, doing whatever clams do off the coast of Iceland when it was picked up by researchers and killed. In their defense, it looked just like any other clam.
Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed that the oldest living animal turned out to be a clam. I was hoping that it would be a tortoise or, by some stroke of luck, a giant gorilla; maybe I'm just strangely partial to land animals. (I'm not going to lie; fish freak me out a little bit.)
Anyway, besides just being good for a photo op, the scientists plan to use the clam to track climate changes in the past by analyzing the rings on its shell; that's also how the scientists figured out the age of the clam. I'd hate to be the researcher who had to sit down and count all the lines on the clamshell. That has to be the most tedious job in the world, but I guess someone had to draw the short straw.
Another magical creature we've found at the bottom of the ocean is the ever-vicious cone snail. Apparently there's a deadly snail and its venom can paralyze a person, according to LiveScience. Fortunately, the venom also has benefits, such as possible treatment for strokes and chronic pain.
I still think it's neat that we can turn components of lethal venom into a treatment, especially from a creature as ugly as a snail. Granted, the treatments are still in the laboratory, but it's a step in the right direction.
If you would like to learn more about the killer snails, Frank Marí, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry here at FAU, is giving a presentation on the snail's benefits on Thursday, Nov. 8, at 3:30 p.m. The presentation will take place in the Charles E. Schmidt Biomedical Science Center in room 126 on the Boca campus.
Or you could skip the presentation and just go to the beach instead.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Dead Man Walking
Many guys don't like to be tied down in a relationship during their college years, but science has recently determined that this behavior may cause them to die before their female counterparts. Apparently, species which are not monogamous, also called polygynous species, tend to age faster and die earlier due to the constant competition for sex. This wouldn't be a problem for people if they weren't so afraid of death, but we intrinsically fear the unknown and death is the ultimate unknown.
The current definition of death is the point at which the brain stops functioning, and it often occurs when the brain spends a considerable amount of time without oxygenated blood. According to New Scientist, the average person has about 10 seconds between when the blood stops running and losing consciousness, which will probably be the scariest 10 seconds of our lives. Granted, we won't be around to remember it, but I think it's the fear of physical pain that makes us fear death, as none of us know just how much death hurts.
Given that we live in a society full of the delicious, artery-clogging goodness that is fried food, it isn't surprising that heart attacks are among the most popular ways to die. Although some heart attack survivors claim to have felt pain and pressure in the chest, others say "it felt more like indigestion, tiredness or muscle cramps than a heart attack," according to New Scientist. So while you think you may just be experiencing gas from eating at a hole-in-the-wall burger joint, it might turn out to be a heart attack — not to freak you out or anything.
Probably more common to our demographic — the Florida college student — is death by drowning: drowning in the ocean, drowning while drunkenly swimming and drowning in your own vomit. According to the National Safety Council, 3,718 people died from accidental drowning in 2003, and only 412 of these cases involved boating accidents. The survivors claim that there is a "tearing" and "burning sensation" as the water goes into the lungs, and they are ultimately overwhelmed by a feeling of calmness, says New Scientist. People can typically only hold their breath 30 to 90 seconds, after which the water that the victim inhales blocks the gas exchange in the lungs, which leads to death.
No one knows for sure what happens after that, but common beliefs are that our souls go to some faraway land, that our souls walk the earth for all eternity or that nothing happens at all. Given that today is Halloween, though, you're sure to see many ghosts and other "dead" people — albeit fake ones — walking the streets.
The current definition of death is the point at which the brain stops functioning, and it often occurs when the brain spends a considerable amount of time without oxygenated blood. According to New Scientist, the average person has about 10 seconds between when the blood stops running and losing consciousness, which will probably be the scariest 10 seconds of our lives. Granted, we won't be around to remember it, but I think it's the fear of physical pain that makes us fear death, as none of us know just how much death hurts.
Given that we live in a society full of the delicious, artery-clogging goodness that is fried food, it isn't surprising that heart attacks are among the most popular ways to die. Although some heart attack survivors claim to have felt pain and pressure in the chest, others say "it felt more like indigestion, tiredness or muscle cramps than a heart attack," according to New Scientist. So while you think you may just be experiencing gas from eating at a hole-in-the-wall burger joint, it might turn out to be a heart attack — not to freak you out or anything.
Probably more common to our demographic — the Florida college student — is death by drowning: drowning in the ocean, drowning while drunkenly swimming and drowning in your own vomit. According to the National Safety Council, 3,718 people died from accidental drowning in 2003, and only 412 of these cases involved boating accidents. The survivors claim that there is a "tearing" and "burning sensation" as the water goes into the lungs, and they are ultimately overwhelmed by a feeling of calmness, says New Scientist. People can typically only hold their breath 30 to 90 seconds, after which the water that the victim inhales blocks the gas exchange in the lungs, which leads to death.
No one knows for sure what happens after that, but common beliefs are that our souls go to some faraway land, that our souls walk the earth for all eternity or that nothing happens at all. Given that today is Halloween, though, you're sure to see many ghosts and other "dead" people — albeit fake ones — walking the streets.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Costume Ideas for the Mad Scientist
If you're still scrambling for a Halloween costume, I suggest dressing as a mad scientist with a real live brain as a prop - which you can make yourself. Scientists at some other Florida school have developed a functioning brain using electrodes (electricity conductors) and rat neurons (brain parts), which could help figure out what causes neurological disorders, such as epilepsy, and how brain function evolved over time. Granted, the brain is quite small for an accessory, and it probably can't go outside for trick-or-treating, but it is impressive nonetheless.
And what do you do with the brain once Halloween is over? Train it to fly a plane, of course; I'm being completely serious. The scientists hooked up the mini-brain to a flight simulator and it slowly became better at flying the virtual aircraft. These brain-makers hope this technology could one day be used to fly unmanned aircrafts, such as fighter planes.
Still, I'm not sure how much I'd trust a "living computational device" to control a major aircraft, since it doesn't have any eyes. Luckily, this reality is still a far way off, according to a biomedical engineer at the Georgia Tech. The brain is far from having the capacity of a human brain, as it's made up of significantly less neurons. But since the brain is capable of learning, it can help create the next generation of computers, which will hopefully be able to do more than simply recall pre-programmed information.
If you don't have the time or energy to grow a brain, which is the major component of the costume, you can dress as a Jesus-doctor - one who can perform miracles by bringing damaged limbs and organs back to life. Earlier this month, scientists over in the United Kingdom came up with a plan to develop a "bionic" nerve, which will be rolled into a tube-like structure and placed between the two ends of a severed nerve. The nerve will then re-grow over the bionic structure, and supposedly, patients will regain complete use of the limb or organ that was damaged.
Granted, this costume would not be as impressive as the one with the brain, but you should be able to fake it pretty well for one night. Then again, I am not sure if nerds still get beat up in the school yard, so dressing like one for Halloween may be hazardous to your health. You could always take the easy way out and dress as Doctor Frankenstein, since there are plenty of costumes of his monster (also referred to as Frankenstein) floating around in retail stores. How close are we to building a real creature out of left-over parts like Frankenstein did in Mary Shelley's book? Not very, but are getting closer to fixing the parts we already have.
And what do you do with the brain once Halloween is over? Train it to fly a plane, of course; I'm being completely serious. The scientists hooked up the mini-brain to a flight simulator and it slowly became better at flying the virtual aircraft. These brain-makers hope this technology could one day be used to fly unmanned aircrafts, such as fighter planes.
Still, I'm not sure how much I'd trust a "living computational device" to control a major aircraft, since it doesn't have any eyes. Luckily, this reality is still a far way off, according to a biomedical engineer at the Georgia Tech. The brain is far from having the capacity of a human brain, as it's made up of significantly less neurons. But since the brain is capable of learning, it can help create the next generation of computers, which will hopefully be able to do more than simply recall pre-programmed information.
If you don't have the time or energy to grow a brain, which is the major component of the costume, you can dress as a Jesus-doctor - one who can perform miracles by bringing damaged limbs and organs back to life. Earlier this month, scientists over in the United Kingdom came up with a plan to develop a "bionic" nerve, which will be rolled into a tube-like structure and placed between the two ends of a severed nerve. The nerve will then re-grow over the bionic structure, and supposedly, patients will regain complete use of the limb or organ that was damaged.
Granted, this costume would not be as impressive as the one with the brain, but you should be able to fake it pretty well for one night. Then again, I am not sure if nerds still get beat up in the school yard, so dressing like one for Halloween may be hazardous to your health. You could always take the easy way out and dress as Doctor Frankenstein, since there are plenty of costumes of his monster (also referred to as Frankenstein) floating around in retail stores. How close are we to building a real creature out of left-over parts like Frankenstein did in Mary Shelley's book? Not very, but are getting closer to fixing the parts we already have.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Color Me Bad
Throughout life, we learn to associate colors with different tasks: red means stop, yellow means caution, and red and yellow together mean McDonald’s. I learned my senior year of high school that green and pink together induce nausea, but only after we chose them as our class’s Homecoming colors. Oddly enough, though, not everyone sees color the same way you do.
Apparently some women can see more colors than the rest of us, which may cause them to spend more time comparing shades of lipstick and picking out the perfect outfit. Thus, scientists have finally discovered why women take more time to shop than men. Called tetrachromats, these people can see four different channels of color, instead of just the red, green and blue variety that most humans can see. Unfortunately, there is no way to describe these other or more intense colors; if you've read The Giver, you probably know what I mean. For those of you who haven't, most of the people in the book see in black-and-white, except for a select few who can see red. Those who can see red in the book cannot describe why the red objects look different, since no one can conceptualize the color. Anyway, there's also no online vision test for these extra colors, since computers monitors tend to use three colors.
Of course, there are people who can't even see all three colors, in a characteristic that is more common in men than women: color blindness. Many mammals are color blind, but, thanks to science, there are now three mice that can see color. This was done in an effort to figure out the evolution of our eyes -- or play God, if you're of the Brother Micah variety. The researchers bred "genetically altered" mice (whatever that means) into passing along a gene which allows the mice to see the color red. If the scientists wanted to get really fancy with the human-rat vision evolution, they could've also given the mice a nifty pair of contact lenses, since mice are relatively nearsighted, or a pair of glasses for those that are stuck in the 1980s.
Nearsightedness, or the inability to see distant objects clearly, is caused by light not quite reaching the retina while remaining in focus. It's almost as though your eyes are too big for the amount of light they let in, and thus the light cannot reach the back of the eye. Farsightedness, the inability to see close objects clearly, is caused by too much light hitting the retina before the object comes into focus. You could also pretend that I said your eyes are too small for the amount of light they let in.
Anyway, besides just seeing colors -- or not seeing them, in some cases -- there are also people who feel colors. No, this isn't some sort of New Age philosophy, but an actual neurological condition. Called synesthesia, people with this condition can not only feel colors, but also hear, smell and taste them. There are variations of synesthesia, such as seeing time, and there is no explanation for any variation. While it would be neat to experience this condition without the use of illegal drugs, I am truly glad that I do not have it; pink is my favorite color, and I would hate to feel nauseous every time I see it.
Apparently some women can see more colors than the rest of us, which may cause them to spend more time comparing shades of lipstick and picking out the perfect outfit. Thus, scientists have finally discovered why women take more time to shop than men. Called tetrachromats, these people can see four different channels of color, instead of just the red, green and blue variety that most humans can see. Unfortunately, there is no way to describe these other or more intense colors; if you've read The Giver, you probably know what I mean. For those of you who haven't, most of the people in the book see in black-and-white, except for a select few who can see red. Those who can see red in the book cannot describe why the red objects look different, since no one can conceptualize the color. Anyway, there's also no online vision test for these extra colors, since computers monitors tend to use three colors.
Of course, there are people who can't even see all three colors, in a characteristic that is more common in men than women: color blindness. Many mammals are color blind, but, thanks to science, there are now three mice that can see color. This was done in an effort to figure out the evolution of our eyes -- or play God, if you're of the Brother Micah variety. The researchers bred "genetically altered" mice (whatever that means) into passing along a gene which allows the mice to see the color red. If the scientists wanted to get really fancy with the human-rat vision evolution, they could've also given the mice a nifty pair of contact lenses, since mice are relatively nearsighted, or a pair of glasses for those that are stuck in the 1980s.
Nearsightedness, or the inability to see distant objects clearly, is caused by light not quite reaching the retina while remaining in focus. It's almost as though your eyes are too big for the amount of light they let in, and thus the light cannot reach the back of the eye. Farsightedness, the inability to see close objects clearly, is caused by too much light hitting the retina before the object comes into focus. You could also pretend that I said your eyes are too small for the amount of light they let in.
Anyway, besides just seeing colors -- or not seeing them, in some cases -- there are also people who feel colors. No, this isn't some sort of New Age philosophy, but an actual neurological condition. Called synesthesia, people with this condition can not only feel colors, but also hear, smell and taste them. There are variations of synesthesia, such as seeing time, and there is no explanation for any variation. While it would be neat to experience this condition without the use of illegal drugs, I am truly glad that I do not have it; pink is my favorite color, and I would hate to feel nauseous every time I see it.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Mission to Mars
We all complain about needing more time: time to sleep, time to study and time to stalk our classmates on Facebook. Apparently our complaints have been heard, as scientists have just created a 25-hour day. The hard part will be getting Earth and the sun to cooperate.
While adding an extra hour may be difficult on Earth, since even Wal-Mart is only open for 24 hours, the experiment was designed to get the human body adjusted to the 25-hour days found on Mars. The study involved 12 people living in a controlled environment without any time clues, such as windows or clocks, for 65 days. The participants followed regular time in the beginning, but later the researchers delivered two pulses of light at the end of the "day," which tricked the participants’ internal clocks and allowed them to stay awake an extra hour. This method could be used to keep astronauts from getting jetlag when traveling to Mars — whenever we get there.
By going to Mars, we'd essentially gain more Earth-time, as days are slower on the red planet. I’m not sure how many days the average person would want to spend on Mars, though, since there’s nothing to do there yet; really, Mars would be more boring than Boca. Anyway, this is similar to how a time-traveling device, i.e. a time machine, would operate.
To travel forward in time, we would just need to travel close to the speed of light for a while and then come back to Earth, physicist Brian Greene told LiveScience. Of course, this is easier said than done, but at least it works on paper. Unfortunately, this method doesn’t work for traveling back in time. This means that if you really, really want to go to the future, you’ll have to learn to love it, since there’s no going back.
Time is considered to be the fourth dimension — the other three being length, width and height. While it is possible to move the first three backward and forward, time can only move forward. Thus, we cannot make time move backward, nor can we make it stop, no matter how much we may want to or how hard we try.
That said, the most developed way to travel back in time is to find a wormhole, or a tunnel which connects two areas of time and space. Unfortunately, no one is really sure if wormholes exist — not even the writers of Star Trek, who greatly depend on the wormhole in Deep Space Nine — and no one knows if our future selves have yet accomplished this task.
Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking once asked in a PBS special, "Time travel might be possible, but if that is the case why haven't we been overrun by tourists from the future?"
He makes a good point. We have enough problems with tourists from other states, let alone tourists from other eras. While these future-people may be able to help us in ways we can’t even imagine, they may choose to travel to our time just to laugh at us and our primitive ways. You know you’d do the same thing if you could, and then probably post the photos on Facebook.
While adding an extra hour may be difficult on Earth, since even Wal-Mart is only open for 24 hours, the experiment was designed to get the human body adjusted to the 25-hour days found on Mars. The study involved 12 people living in a controlled environment without any time clues, such as windows or clocks, for 65 days. The participants followed regular time in the beginning, but later the researchers delivered two pulses of light at the end of the "day," which tricked the participants’ internal clocks and allowed them to stay awake an extra hour. This method could be used to keep astronauts from getting jetlag when traveling to Mars — whenever we get there.
By going to Mars, we'd essentially gain more Earth-time, as days are slower on the red planet. I’m not sure how many days the average person would want to spend on Mars, though, since there’s nothing to do there yet; really, Mars would be more boring than Boca. Anyway, this is similar to how a time-traveling device, i.e. a time machine, would operate.
To travel forward in time, we would just need to travel close to the speed of light for a while and then come back to Earth, physicist Brian Greene told LiveScience. Of course, this is easier said than done, but at least it works on paper. Unfortunately, this method doesn’t work for traveling back in time. This means that if you really, really want to go to the future, you’ll have to learn to love it, since there’s no going back.
Time is considered to be the fourth dimension — the other three being length, width and height. While it is possible to move the first three backward and forward, time can only move forward. Thus, we cannot make time move backward, nor can we make it stop, no matter how much we may want to or how hard we try.
That said, the most developed way to travel back in time is to find a wormhole, or a tunnel which connects two areas of time and space. Unfortunately, no one is really sure if wormholes exist — not even the writers of Star Trek, who greatly depend on the wormhole in Deep Space Nine — and no one knows if our future selves have yet accomplished this task.
Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking once asked in a PBS special, "Time travel might be possible, but if that is the case why haven't we been overrun by tourists from the future?"
He makes a good point. We have enough problems with tourists from other states, let alone tourists from other eras. While these future-people may be able to help us in ways we can’t even imagine, they may choose to travel to our time just to laugh at us and our primitive ways. You know you’d do the same thing if you could, and then probably post the photos on Facebook.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
It's a great day to be an amoeba
If you think your job is hard, you should try being an amoeba. While they often just lounge around the bottom of a lake, which sounds like a good ol' time, other times they have to go ahead and eat some brains.
The latest victim chosen by the Naegleria fowleri -- which might as well be Latin for zombie -- was a 14-year-old boy who happened to get some lake water up his nose around Sept. 10. The boy died one week later after the amoeba, which was in the water, ate its way from the boy's nasal cavity into his brain.
There have been six deaths associated with this zombie-amoeba in 2007 alone and -- guess what -- half of the cases were in Florida. The most common way for the amoeba to enter the nasal cavity is through water, as it is known to live near the bottom of warm fresh-water lakes and in some swimming pools. I still don't understand why people go swimming in lakes when the state is covered in beaches and swimming pools, granted not all pools are safe from this microscopic beast.
Besides Florida, there have been two cases in Texas this year and one in Arizona. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 23 documented infections between 1995 and 2004, which makes the six cases this year that much more significant. Apparently amoebic infections are on the rise, possibly leading to a zombie uprising of microscopic proportions.
This type of amoebic infection can be found using an MRI, and it can be treated with antibiotics. Unfortunately, many medical professionals are not used to looking for amoebas, reports CNN. Yes, this article was linked earlier, but I'm not sure if any of you click the links anyway.
For some reason, no one ever believes me when I bring up the brain-eating amoeba in everyday conversation. This habit started in 2002 when I read about the case in Georgia and, for some reason, the habit is still going strong.
Maybe I just like to say the word "amoeba."
One of our sneakier amoebic friends, the Acanthamoeba (Latin for eye-muncher, or something), found its way into the eyes of 138 people earlier this year and was supposedly linked to contact solution. It was never officially determined whether the solution contained the amoebas or if the solution simply didn't kill the organisms. Instead of going for the brain, this amoeba is seemingly content with the cornea.
Unlike the zombie-amoeba, eye-muncher is not linked to certain death. It only seems to lead to vision loss, which is still a serious problem. Some of the amoeba's victims are undergoing Keratoplasty, or corneal transplants, in an effort to correct their vision.
I don't know what we did to anger these little organisms, but as Tyra Banks would probably say, amoebas are fierce.
The latest victim chosen by the Naegleria fowleri -- which might as well be Latin for zombie -- was a 14-year-old boy who happened to get some lake water up his nose around Sept. 10. The boy died one week later after the amoeba, which was in the water, ate its way from the boy's nasal cavity into his brain.
There have been six deaths associated with this zombie-amoeba in 2007 alone and -- guess what -- half of the cases were in Florida. The most common way for the amoeba to enter the nasal cavity is through water, as it is known to live near the bottom of warm fresh-water lakes and in some swimming pools. I still don't understand why people go swimming in lakes when the state is covered in beaches and swimming pools, granted not all pools are safe from this microscopic beast.
Besides Florida, there have been two cases in Texas this year and one in Arizona. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 23 documented infections between 1995 and 2004, which makes the six cases this year that much more significant. Apparently amoebic infections are on the rise, possibly leading to a zombie uprising of microscopic proportions.
This type of amoebic infection can be found using an MRI, and it can be treated with antibiotics. Unfortunately, many medical professionals are not used to looking for amoebas, reports CNN. Yes, this article was linked earlier, but I'm not sure if any of you click the links anyway.
For some reason, no one ever believes me when I bring up the brain-eating amoeba in everyday conversation. This habit started in 2002 when I read about the case in Georgia and, for some reason, the habit is still going strong.
Maybe I just like to say the word "amoeba."
One of our sneakier amoebic friends, the Acanthamoeba (Latin for eye-muncher, or something), found its way into the eyes of 138 people earlier this year and was supposedly linked to contact solution. It was never officially determined whether the solution contained the amoebas or if the solution simply didn't kill the organisms. Instead of going for the brain, this amoeba is seemingly content with the cornea.
Unlike the zombie-amoeba, eye-muncher is not linked to certain death. It only seems to lead to vision loss, which is still a serious problem. Some of the amoeba's victims are undergoing Keratoplasty, or corneal transplants, in an effort to correct their vision.
I don't know what we did to anger these little organisms, but as Tyra Banks would probably say, amoebas are fierce.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Feeling Ill? It’s all in your head...
If you’ve been feeling sick lately, I’m sorry to say that it may just be in your mind. Granted, the majority of you have probably contracted some sort of virus, but it’s also possible that your symptoms are caused by fear or anxiety. Called psychosomatic illness (warning: boring Web site alert), symptoms could appear in conjunction with a physical illness or after a stressful event, such as a meteorite crashing into your hometown.
Scientists think this may be the case with a recent illness in Peru. You see, a meteorite supposedly hit the country over the weekend near everyone’s favorite lake with a funny name - Lake Titicaca. After testing the area for toxins, the scientists cannot figure out what is making the people sick. Therefore, like with most other unexplained phenomena, the only explanation is that it’s all in the Peruvians’ heads.
Or something like that. Anyway, to get some of this horribly confusing space-rock lingo out of the way: A meteoroid is a rock, which is larger than interplanetary dust but smaller than an asteroid, that hangs out in our solar system. When we see it shoot across the sky, it’s called a meteor, but when it hits a planet, it’s called a meteorite.
Some witnesses claim that bubbling, muddy water appeared once the meteorite crashed, leading skeptics to believe that the gaping crater was formed by a volcanic eruption, since meteorites are cold when they strike earth. Given that Peru has around 15 volcanoes, I’d expect most of the residents to know the difference between a rock falling from the sky and molten rock spewing from inside the earth; I guess the same could also be said about the scientists.
Anyway, someone else confirmed that it was, indeed, a meteor, which is rather frightening (but not frightening enough to get me sick over, yet). According to NASA, around four billion meteorites enter Earth’s atmosphere every day. Fortunately for us, most of them burn up before hitting anything.
The meteorites that do hit Earth leave an impact crater or basin, and there are only around 120 discovered on Earth so far. In the Peru incident, the impact of the meteorite caused a tremor equal to setting off 4.9 tons of dynamite, and caused a 42 foot by 15 foot crater.
I’d say that is definitely enough to cause some sort of trauma to the residents. One lady reported that rocks were raining down from the sky right after the meteorite’s impact and she was afraid her house was going to collapse. If I was in her position, I’d probably be feeling ill, too.
So even if the mystery illness turns out to be psychosomatic, I’d say it’s well justified, at least for now. As for the queasy feeling you’re having because you didn’t study for your exam, you totally brought that one upon yourself.
Scientists think this may be the case with a recent illness in Peru. You see, a meteorite supposedly hit the country over the weekend near everyone’s favorite lake with a funny name - Lake Titicaca. After testing the area for toxins, the scientists cannot figure out what is making the people sick. Therefore, like with most other unexplained phenomena, the only explanation is that it’s all in the Peruvians’ heads.
Or something like that. Anyway, to get some of this horribly confusing space-rock lingo out of the way: A meteoroid is a rock, which is larger than interplanetary dust but smaller than an asteroid, that hangs out in our solar system. When we see it shoot across the sky, it’s called a meteor, but when it hits a planet, it’s called a meteorite.
Some witnesses claim that bubbling, muddy water appeared once the meteorite crashed, leading skeptics to believe that the gaping crater was formed by a volcanic eruption, since meteorites are cold when they strike earth. Given that Peru has around 15 volcanoes, I’d expect most of the residents to know the difference between a rock falling from the sky and molten rock spewing from inside the earth; I guess the same could also be said about the scientists.
Anyway, someone else confirmed that it was, indeed, a meteor, which is rather frightening (but not frightening enough to get me sick over, yet). According to NASA, around four billion meteorites enter Earth’s atmosphere every day. Fortunately for us, most of them burn up before hitting anything.
The meteorites that do hit Earth leave an impact crater or basin, and there are only around 120 discovered on Earth so far. In the Peru incident, the impact of the meteorite caused a tremor equal to setting off 4.9 tons of dynamite, and caused a 42 foot by 15 foot crater.
I’d say that is definitely enough to cause some sort of trauma to the residents. One lady reported that rocks were raining down from the sky right after the meteorite’s impact and she was afraid her house was going to collapse. If I was in her position, I’d probably be feeling ill, too.
So even if the mystery illness turns out to be psychosomatic, I’d say it’s well justified, at least for now. As for the queasy feeling you’re having because you didn’t study for your exam, you totally brought that one upon yourself.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Free Food Is Always Delicious
Lately I’ve been hearing that the best way to reach college students is through their stomachs -- i.e. give them free food -- and for some reason, it appears to be true. Our response to food could be some sort of natural survival skill, where we pack food into our cheeks like hamsters (metaphorically) and try to save some for later, but I seriously doubt it. Although Scientific American says it’s possible to survive 40 days without food, so long as we allow ourselves to drink water, I have a hard time believing that the long line of students at every free-food event have been waiting days for their next meal; granted, they may have been waiting all day for the event, but have probably eaten within the past 24 hours.
My guess is that we’ve been conditioned to some sort of Pavlovian response. Pavlov was the guy who would give his dog a treat every time his metronome sounded in an effort to "condition" the animal; if you don’t know what a metronome is, just pretend I said "every time he rang a bell in regular intervals," which isn’t correct but close enough for our purposes. Anyway, over time the dog would start to salivate -- or its mouth would water -- at the sound of a metronome. In our case, I think our mouths begin to water at the sight of free food. If there’s free food in the room with you, you know you’re going to check it out and possibly eat some of it, even if your stomach isn’t rumbling. And, of course, we cannot stop at just one free cookie or chicken wing.
Our friends over at Science Daily explain that we eat so much because we’re stressed and the food is tempting. I’ve noticed that even if the food isn’t tempting, like the ever-unappealing cooked vegetables or --worse yet-- the dreaded pepperoni pizza, there is still a somewhat-hungry person in line who will eat it. I will definitely won’t argue with the fact that we’re stressed, though, whether we consciously acknowledge it or not.
Stress eating is a common response to sudden danger, says Psychology Today. The danger could be anything from a near-accident on the highway to the possibility of failing a test. When we’re stressed, our bodies release cortisol, which is a hormone produced inside the adrenal gland, our hearts start to race and our metabolisms speed up. In turn, it may make us more prone to eat. Along with inactivity, stress eating is probably the main contributor to the sneaky condition known as the "Freshman 15", which affects many college students (myself included).
There is nothing wrong with stress eating if, like most things, it’s done in moderation. If you’re showing up to more than one free food event in a single day, it may be in your best interest to keep your friends (and yourself) from gorging, no matter how stressed you are or how tempting it may seem. Chances are I’ll be there, too, along with the rest of the University Press staff.
My guess is that we’ve been conditioned to some sort of Pavlovian response. Pavlov was the guy who would give his dog a treat every time his metronome sounded in an effort to "condition" the animal; if you don’t know what a metronome is, just pretend I said "every time he rang a bell in regular intervals," which isn’t correct but close enough for our purposes. Anyway, over time the dog would start to salivate -- or its mouth would water -- at the sound of a metronome. In our case, I think our mouths begin to water at the sight of free food. If there’s free food in the room with you, you know you’re going to check it out and possibly eat some of it, even if your stomach isn’t rumbling. And, of course, we cannot stop at just one free cookie or chicken wing.
Our friends over at Science Daily explain that we eat so much because we’re stressed and the food is tempting. I’ve noticed that even if the food isn’t tempting, like the ever-unappealing cooked vegetables or --worse yet-- the dreaded pepperoni pizza, there is still a somewhat-hungry person in line who will eat it. I will definitely won’t argue with the fact that we’re stressed, though, whether we consciously acknowledge it or not.
Stress eating is a common response to sudden danger, says Psychology Today. The danger could be anything from a near-accident on the highway to the possibility of failing a test. When we’re stressed, our bodies release cortisol, which is a hormone produced inside the adrenal gland, our hearts start to race and our metabolisms speed up. In turn, it may make us more prone to eat. Along with inactivity, stress eating is probably the main contributor to the sneaky condition known as the "Freshman 15", which affects many college students (myself included).
There is nothing wrong with stress eating if, like most things, it’s done in moderation. If you’re showing up to more than one free food event in a single day, it may be in your best interest to keep your friends (and yourself) from gorging, no matter how stressed you are or how tempting it may seem. Chances are I’ll be there, too, along with the rest of the University Press staff.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Why walk when you can drive in circles
From the early morning into the evening, the campus parking lots look like those at the mall around Christmas: cars circling around for hours, vehicles parked on the medians and hundreds of frustrated drivers. Unlike the mall, though, there is usually plenty of parking out in the middle of nowhere - such as the fifth floor of the Art and Letters parking garage on the Boca campus - but who wants to park there?
Not most students, apparently. So, based on research done by real scientists, I've drawn my own conclusions about why we would rather drive in circles than walk a few extra yards.
One possible reason is that our brains are full; there's just not enough room to remember our multiplication tables, all six American Idol winners and where we parked our car. LiveScience says we have such horrible short-term memories because we try to remember too much. Given that we're college students who thrive on cramming sessions and memorizing answer sheets, I can believe it - sort of. The problem arises in that we have no idea how to forget things; it’s easy to say that our brains are nearing capacity, but there's really nothing we can do about it. And if you think your memory is bad now, just wait a couple decades and see how many more useless memories are clogging your brain – you may just need to tie those plastic flowers to your car’s antenna or put a dozen flags on your windows.
Another reason could be that we need the false sense of accomplishment which getting a closer spot - or even preventing someone else from getting it - brings to us. Like our grade-school bullies, some people live only to make the lives of others more difficult. And I’m sure you know who I’m talking about: The people who follow you too closely so that you can’t back up a foot or two, and the people who try to cut you off and steal your spot. According to Reuters, odds are that these bullies are your bosses on a nice power trip. So next time, try to keep in mind that the jerk who took your spot may actually be the same person who lost your transcript or short-changed you at a campus venue. And I’m just going to leave it at that, since I’m all against retaliation when I’m on the record.
Of course, we could also claim that we are fulfilling our supposed urge to hunt by following people to their cars. Based on what Science Daily says, this could easily backfire, since our immediate response to being followed is to run, freeze or weave in and out of cars. The guy who conducted this study (which used a Pac-Man-like game) says this reaction "is a poor survival strategy and makes it more likely that the animal will be eaten and not pass on its genes." It also makes us more likely to stand there and point when Godzilla wanders out of the ocean and stomps all over the city. So, it turns out that following a person for too long may only make him or her nervous and instinctually try to ditch you, but at least this method also serves as something to do if you have time to kill.
Anyway, the truth of the matter is that we probably just drive around in circles because it's hot outside and we're lazy college students. But, really, where's the fun in that?
Not most students, apparently. So, based on research done by real scientists, I've drawn my own conclusions about why we would rather drive in circles than walk a few extra yards.
One possible reason is that our brains are full; there's just not enough room to remember our multiplication tables, all six American Idol winners and where we parked our car. LiveScience says we have such horrible short-term memories because we try to remember too much. Given that we're college students who thrive on cramming sessions and memorizing answer sheets, I can believe it - sort of. The problem arises in that we have no idea how to forget things; it’s easy to say that our brains are nearing capacity, but there's really nothing we can do about it. And if you think your memory is bad now, just wait a couple decades and see how many more useless memories are clogging your brain – you may just need to tie those plastic flowers to your car’s antenna or put a dozen flags on your windows.
Another reason could be that we need the false sense of accomplishment which getting a closer spot - or even preventing someone else from getting it - brings to us. Like our grade-school bullies, some people live only to make the lives of others more difficult. And I’m sure you know who I’m talking about: The people who follow you too closely so that you can’t back up a foot or two, and the people who try to cut you off and steal your spot. According to Reuters, odds are that these bullies are your bosses on a nice power trip. So next time, try to keep in mind that the jerk who took your spot may actually be the same person who lost your transcript or short-changed you at a campus venue. And I’m just going to leave it at that, since I’m all against retaliation when I’m on the record.
Of course, we could also claim that we are fulfilling our supposed urge to hunt by following people to their cars. Based on what Science Daily says, this could easily backfire, since our immediate response to being followed is to run, freeze or weave in and out of cars. The guy who conducted this study (which used a Pac-Man-like game) says this reaction "is a poor survival strategy and makes it more likely that the animal will be eaten and not pass on its genes." It also makes us more likely to stand there and point when Godzilla wanders out of the ocean and stomps all over the city. So, it turns out that following a person for too long may only make him or her nervous and instinctually try to ditch you, but at least this method also serves as something to do if you have time to kill.
Anyway, the truth of the matter is that we probably just drive around in circles because it's hot outside and we're lazy college students. But, really, where's the fun in that?
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
How Not to Fight Global Warming
You know those times when you're taking a test and have absolutely no idea what the answer is? Whether you studied or not, your only option now is to make something up, no matter how outlandish it may seem. I'm sorry to say that this is a skill you will probably need throughout life, and it's become clear through some of the world's proposed solutions to global warming.
For instance, some groups think not having sex or sitting on your ass will make the planet a cooler place. Don't think abstinence or laziness will work? Neither do I, but some people obviously don't share our opinions. Anyway, here are the dumbest solutions to global warming I have found on the Web. Sorry folks, Live Earth didn't make the cut.
The most popular bizarre solution is to create a solar shield, specifically one made out of everyone's favorite vile-smelling element: sulfur. The idea is to "imitate the cooling effects of volcanic eruptions, which send large sulfur-rich clouds into the atmosphere" and reflect the sunlight, reports National Geographic. The only major downfall is global drought. Other possible side effects include a whitening of the sky, further damage to the o-zone layer and everything smelling like rotten eggs.
National Geographic did manage to find the situation's silver lining: "On the upside, sunsets and sunrises would become more spectacular." I guess some times you just can't have your cake and eat it too -- which is good in this case, since it would probably taste like sulfur.
Apparently mortified by the thought of food having taste, our friends over in England have created their own way to combat global warming: exercising less. As reported by the Times (UK), research has found that people are hungry after they exercise, and food production only damages the planet. Thus, the more you exercise, the more food you eat, and therefore the more you damage the planet.
Or something along those lines. It's the kind of reasoning that only makes sense when you're high.
Anyway, what the scientists are trying to say -- I hope -- is that the cost of production outweighs the benefit of the goods, when it comes to environmental damage. While there may be truth to that statement, becoming a couch potato sounds about as helpful as world-wide drought when it comes to global warming.
Our final seeming-odd solution comes from China, where they believe having less sex -- or rather, producing less kids -- will stop global warming; I think they've eaten too much lead paint.
Since the 1970s, the Chinese have only been allowed one to two children per family in order to slow the population growth, says Reuters. According to the article, "China, which rejects criticism that it is doing too little to confront climate change, says... [t]he number of births avoided equals the entire population of the United States."
If only all countries could fight global warming through their already-established laws. I could say that I'm fighting global warming by driving on the right side of the road -- if I didn't, think of all the energy wasted by the theoretical ambulances and hospital stays.
I guess the only real solution is to sit around alone in the dark, since everything else wastes too much energy; you may also want save yourself the trouble and get used to sulfur cake.
For instance, some groups think not having sex or sitting on your ass will make the planet a cooler place. Don't think abstinence or laziness will work? Neither do I, but some people obviously don't share our opinions. Anyway, here are the dumbest solutions to global warming I have found on the Web. Sorry folks, Live Earth didn't make the cut.
The most popular bizarre solution is to create a solar shield, specifically one made out of everyone's favorite vile-smelling element: sulfur. The idea is to "imitate the cooling effects of volcanic eruptions, which send large sulfur-rich clouds into the atmosphere" and reflect the sunlight, reports National Geographic. The only major downfall is global drought. Other possible side effects include a whitening of the sky, further damage to the o-zone layer and everything smelling like rotten eggs.
National Geographic did manage to find the situation's silver lining: "On the upside, sunsets and sunrises would become more spectacular." I guess some times you just can't have your cake and eat it too -- which is good in this case, since it would probably taste like sulfur.
Apparently mortified by the thought of food having taste, our friends over in England have created their own way to combat global warming: exercising less. As reported by the Times (UK), research has found that people are hungry after they exercise, and food production only damages the planet. Thus, the more you exercise, the more food you eat, and therefore the more you damage the planet.
Or something along those lines. It's the kind of reasoning that only makes sense when you're high.
Anyway, what the scientists are trying to say -- I hope -- is that the cost of production outweighs the benefit of the goods, when it comes to environmental damage. While there may be truth to that statement, becoming a couch potato sounds about as helpful as world-wide drought when it comes to global warming.
Our final seeming-odd solution comes from China, where they believe having less sex -- or rather, producing less kids -- will stop global warming; I think they've eaten too much lead paint.
Since the 1970s, the Chinese have only been allowed one to two children per family in order to slow the population growth, says Reuters. According to the article, "China, which rejects criticism that it is doing too little to confront climate change, says... [t]he number of births avoided equals the entire population of the United States."
If only all countries could fight global warming through their already-established laws. I could say that I'm fighting global warming by driving on the right side of the road -- if I didn't, think of all the energy wasted by the theoretical ambulances and hospital stays.
I guess the only real solution is to sit around alone in the dark, since everything else wastes too much energy; you may also want save yourself the trouble and get used to sulfur cake.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Like Lindsay Lohan, the iPhone Cannot Stay out of the News
This past week, a 17-year-old from New Jersey did what most of you college students only dreamt of doing: He figured out a way to make the iPhone compatible with another service. Instead of complaining about having T-Mobile, which doesn't carry the iPhone, he set forth on a valiant quest to "unlock" Apple's impressive cell phone; "unlocking" is just a fancy term for "allowing the device to work with more than one provider." After ingesting cases of energy drinks and soldering some of the wires inside the device together, he became the first person to use the phone without AT&T.
You see, Apple made AT&T an exclusive agreement for the phone, but if you have a soldering iron, T-Mobile and tons of patience, you potentially have everything you need to unlock the iPhone for yourself. This, of course, is assuming that you can get your hands on the phone.
The reason that the phone is only compatible with T-Mobile is because this carrier operates on the same band frequencies as AT&T. Essentially, any cell phone provider using the GSM service would work, but there are only two in the United States: AT&T and T-Mobile. You can read more about the GSM on Wikipedia, and if you don’t like what it has to say, feel free to change it.
So now that you’ve cancelled your cell phone plan and switched to T-Mobile, you need to find a way to get an iPhone. In fact, maybe you should get two, just in case you accidently break one while soldering the phone's innards.
What? You can’t afford one? Me neither, but somehow the teenager with the miraculous unlocking powers managed to obtain more than one. According his blog, his first iPhone was donated. I’m not going to weed through all of his posts, but I’m assuming the rest of his iPhones were donated, too. Still, it pains me to read that “he purposely destroyed one iPhone to figure out how the pieces operated,” which comes from the San Francisco Chronicle. I guess you really do need to sacrifice one every once in a while for the good of the group; I know this argument has been used for cannibalism, but apparently it also applies to $500 cell phones.
Now, I’m not going to tell you how to unlock your (or anyone else’s) iPhone, since the legalities of this process is debatable, and I don’t want to be held responsible for your breach of contract. I’m sure you can find some other site out there with step-by-step instructions if you search long enough.
If, by some stroke of fate, you’ve managed to hit the lottery (or maybe got a refund check from your loan company), you can pay someone else to unlock your iPhone for you. Unique Phones and iPhone Sim Free both claim to have hacked the iPhone software and will unlock your phone for a fee. Of course, you must also have a lot of faith to use this method, since they may be scams. Too bad eBay pulled the New Jersey kid’s auction, since that would’ve been the easiest way to obtain an unlocked phone. The poor guy had to settle for trading the iPhone, which he didn’t pay for anyway, for a car and three more phones.
I guess if there’s any lesson to be learned by this, it’s that you don’t really need a college education, so long as you’re alright with being paid in cars and phones. It’s awesome that someone managed to open up the iPhone’s potential user-base, and the fact that it was done by a regular person makes it all the more spectacular. Unfortunately, I already have AT&T, so this whole hacking ordeal matters little to me personally; plus, I have little interest in getting an iPhone. Call me old fashioned, but I’m perfectly happy with my camera phone, two iPods and three computers, and thus have no interest in trying to combine the three.
If you have extra time on your hands and money that’s just itching to be spent, go ahead and try your best shot at modifying an iPhone: The only condition is that you must tell me about it, so I can include you in a future blog.
You see, Apple made AT&T an exclusive agreement for the phone, but if you have a soldering iron, T-Mobile and tons of patience, you potentially have everything you need to unlock the iPhone for yourself. This, of course, is assuming that you can get your hands on the phone.
The reason that the phone is only compatible with T-Mobile is because this carrier operates on the same band frequencies as AT&T. Essentially, any cell phone provider using the GSM service would work, but there are only two in the United States: AT&T and T-Mobile. You can read more about the GSM on Wikipedia, and if you don’t like what it has to say, feel free to change it.
So now that you’ve cancelled your cell phone plan and switched to T-Mobile, you need to find a way to get an iPhone. In fact, maybe you should get two, just in case you accidently break one while soldering the phone's innards.
What? You can’t afford one? Me neither, but somehow the teenager with the miraculous unlocking powers managed to obtain more than one. According his blog, his first iPhone was donated. I’m not going to weed through all of his posts, but I’m assuming the rest of his iPhones were donated, too. Still, it pains me to read that “he purposely destroyed one iPhone to figure out how the pieces operated,” which comes from the San Francisco Chronicle. I guess you really do need to sacrifice one every once in a while for the good of the group; I know this argument has been used for cannibalism, but apparently it also applies to $500 cell phones.
Now, I’m not going to tell you how to unlock your (or anyone else’s) iPhone, since the legalities of this process is debatable, and I don’t want to be held responsible for your breach of contract. I’m sure you can find some other site out there with step-by-step instructions if you search long enough.
If, by some stroke of fate, you’ve managed to hit the lottery (or maybe got a refund check from your loan company), you can pay someone else to unlock your iPhone for you. Unique Phones and iPhone Sim Free both claim to have hacked the iPhone software and will unlock your phone for a fee. Of course, you must also have a lot of faith to use this method, since they may be scams. Too bad eBay pulled the New Jersey kid’s auction, since that would’ve been the easiest way to obtain an unlocked phone. The poor guy had to settle for trading the iPhone, which he didn’t pay for anyway, for a car and three more phones.
I guess if there’s any lesson to be learned by this, it’s that you don’t really need a college education, so long as you’re alright with being paid in cars and phones. It’s awesome that someone managed to open up the iPhone’s potential user-base, and the fact that it was done by a regular person makes it all the more spectacular. Unfortunately, I already have AT&T, so this whole hacking ordeal matters little to me personally; plus, I have little interest in getting an iPhone. Call me old fashioned, but I’m perfectly happy with my camera phone, two iPods and three computers, and thus have no interest in trying to combine the three.
If you have extra time on your hands and money that’s just itching to be spent, go ahead and try your best shot at modifying an iPhone: The only condition is that you must tell me about it, so I can include you in a future blog.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
What You See Isn't What You Get
Growing up with television and the internet, we have become accustomed to advertisements bombarding us in every way possible. Our sneaky little friends over at Kameraflage felt that this wasn’t enough, and have come up with a new way to get a point across, using a 21st Century version of subliminal messaging.
The company’s founders thought it would be clever to decorate billboards, t-shirts and an assortment of other objects with colors we cannot see. Sounds pointless, right? Well, it turns out the creations are visible through the lens of a camera, which still makes the discovery sound pretty silly.
Needless to say, when I started reading about Kameraflage, I thought it was a joke. I was expecting someone from The Onion or the now-defunct Weekly World News to have “created” the product. I understand how the technology works -- through using colors our eyes cannot see but can still be picked up by electronics-- but I couldn’t readily understand why anyone would want to use it. Who walks around all day with a camera stuck to his or her face?
The obvious answer is the paparazzi. I guess the celebrities who don’t enjoy being followed by the media can now voice their displeasure on a t-shirt, a refreshing change from the traditional vulgar hand signal or bouts of profanity. Big-name fashion designers can add another dimension to their clothing lines and annual fashion shows by featuring Kameraflaged garments. In fact, a prototype garment was worn during 2006 Fall Fashion Week in Paris, according to the company’s Web site.
The film industry could also benefit from the invisible text in order to cut back on movie piracy; a big “nice try” stamped on the entire film may deter people from distributing illegal copies. If this idea doesn’t fly, film makers could always use Kameraflage to provide subtitles to a deaf audience or on a foreign film. Of course, theaters would probably have to distribute a viewing device, since the screens on camera phones are only so large.
But then there are the people who would use Kameraflage for the purposes of evil, such as advertising agencies.
Imagine taking photos of a landmark on vacation, only to later find McDonald’s famous “golden arches” proudly displayed on the structure, or the Web address for internet casino GoldenPalace.com. Although I’d like to think that corporations have better things to do than deface buildings with invisible ink, there is no way to tell what tricks the executives may have up their sleeves; I would hate to see the Statue of Liberty’s green torch replaced with an invisible bottle of Coca-Cola.
Although it is pretty neat that someone thought to use these invisible colors, I still don’t think Kameraflage will be the next “in” thing for the American public. A line of Kameraflage garments are being released in September, so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.
You can read more about here and here, although all of the news articles about the product basically say the same thing.
The company’s founders thought it would be clever to decorate billboards, t-shirts and an assortment of other objects with colors we cannot see. Sounds pointless, right? Well, it turns out the creations are visible through the lens of a camera, which still makes the discovery sound pretty silly.
Needless to say, when I started reading about Kameraflage, I thought it was a joke. I was expecting someone from The Onion or the now-defunct Weekly World News to have “created” the product. I understand how the technology works -- through using colors our eyes cannot see but can still be picked up by electronics-- but I couldn’t readily understand why anyone would want to use it. Who walks around all day with a camera stuck to his or her face?
The obvious answer is the paparazzi. I guess the celebrities who don’t enjoy being followed by the media can now voice their displeasure on a t-shirt, a refreshing change from the traditional vulgar hand signal or bouts of profanity. Big-name fashion designers can add another dimension to their clothing lines and annual fashion shows by featuring Kameraflaged garments. In fact, a prototype garment was worn during 2006 Fall Fashion Week in Paris, according to the company’s Web site.
The film industry could also benefit from the invisible text in order to cut back on movie piracy; a big “nice try” stamped on the entire film may deter people from distributing illegal copies. If this idea doesn’t fly, film makers could always use Kameraflage to provide subtitles to a deaf audience or on a foreign film. Of course, theaters would probably have to distribute a viewing device, since the screens on camera phones are only so large.
But then there are the people who would use Kameraflage for the purposes of evil, such as advertising agencies.
Imagine taking photos of a landmark on vacation, only to later find McDonald’s famous “golden arches” proudly displayed on the structure, or the Web address for internet casino GoldenPalace.com. Although I’d like to think that corporations have better things to do than deface buildings with invisible ink, there is no way to tell what tricks the executives may have up their sleeves; I would hate to see the Statue of Liberty’s green torch replaced with an invisible bottle of Coca-Cola.
Although it is pretty neat that someone thought to use these invisible colors, I still don’t think Kameraflage will be the next “in” thing for the American public. A line of Kameraflage garments are being released in September, so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.
You can read more about here and here, although all of the news articles about the product basically say the same thing.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Alcohol and Cell Phones Are Never a Good Idea
Drunk driving, a favorite pastime of celebrities and average Joes alike, is going to get more difficult thanks to auto giant Nissan.
The Japan-based company has developed a concept car that can detect whether or not the driver has been drinking through odor and sweat emissions, reports New Scientist. If alcohol is found, the car may lock the ignition system or issue an alert; an alert which hopefully involves some sort of public humiliation through a loudspeaker on the car's roof.
Ok, there is no loudspeaker, but I can dream, right?
While there are still snags in the current design, such as registering one beer as intoxication for everyone, this could be a step in the right direction to cut down on drinking and driving, an act which killed 16,885 Americans in 2005. Yeah, I know, it's also a step toward the government having a tighter control over the people, but you don't need to put on your tinfoil hat just yet; this wonder-car is still far away from mass production.
Although it is also designed to prevent drivers from falling asleep at the wheel, Nissan's concept car does not prevent against a fairly new -- and fairly common -- type of driving impairment: cell phone usage.
Live Science reports that college-age adults on cell phones drive as poorly as the elderly who can't seem to find the accelerator. Ok, that's not how Live Science phrased it, but you catch my drift. Chatty drivers were also responsible for 330,000 injuries and 2,600 traffic fatalities in 2003.
And I know that every time you pass a horrible driver on the road, you glance over to see if the person is either elderly or on a cell phone. I do it too, especially in Palm Beach County.
Some of the gabbers try to throw you for a loop by using Bluetooth or another hands-free device, but I've found that it's usually easy to point them out: Just look for a swerving vehicle traveling at inconsistent speeds. Doesn't that sounds awfully like a drunk driver? Researchers at the University of Utah thought so, too.
The researchers were determined to find the differences between the way drunks and talkers drive. Using willing participants and a driving simulator, they found that "drunk drivers were more aggressive, tailgated more, and hit the break pedal harder," whereas "[c]ell phone drivers took longer to hit the breaks, and got in more accidents," reports Discover Magazine.
Wait a minute. If it's safe to assume that more people use cell phones than alcohol while driving, and cell phone users "got in more accidents" than the drinkers, why don't the statistics reflect this?
Because something tells me that the police are more likely to whip out a Breathalyzer than check your call log. Plus, only one of the two impairments is illegal in Florida.
While I am not against using cell phones while driving, I am against leaving your common sense at home. Driving in a late-afternoon monsoon? Don't use the phone. Weaving through heavy traffic? Don't use the phone. Been drinking heavily all evening? Don't use the phone, because drunk dials are obnoxious. And don't think about driving your car either, because everyone will hear the alert coming from your Nissan.
The Japan-based company has developed a concept car that can detect whether or not the driver has been drinking through odor and sweat emissions, reports New Scientist. If alcohol is found, the car may lock the ignition system or issue an alert; an alert which hopefully involves some sort of public humiliation through a loudspeaker on the car's roof.
Ok, there is no loudspeaker, but I can dream, right?
While there are still snags in the current design, such as registering one beer as intoxication for everyone, this could be a step in the right direction to cut down on drinking and driving, an act which killed 16,885 Americans in 2005. Yeah, I know, it's also a step toward the government having a tighter control over the people, but you don't need to put on your tinfoil hat just yet; this wonder-car is still far away from mass production.
Although it is also designed to prevent drivers from falling asleep at the wheel, Nissan's concept car does not prevent against a fairly new -- and fairly common -- type of driving impairment: cell phone usage.
Live Science reports that college-age adults on cell phones drive as poorly as the elderly who can't seem to find the accelerator. Ok, that's not how Live Science phrased it, but you catch my drift. Chatty drivers were also responsible for 330,000 injuries and 2,600 traffic fatalities in 2003.
And I know that every time you pass a horrible driver on the road, you glance over to see if the person is either elderly or on a cell phone. I do it too, especially in Palm Beach County.
Some of the gabbers try to throw you for a loop by using Bluetooth or another hands-free device, but I've found that it's usually easy to point them out: Just look for a swerving vehicle traveling at inconsistent speeds. Doesn't that sounds awfully like a drunk driver? Researchers at the University of Utah thought so, too.
The researchers were determined to find the differences between the way drunks and talkers drive. Using willing participants and a driving simulator, they found that "drunk drivers were more aggressive, tailgated more, and hit the break pedal harder," whereas "[c]ell phone drivers took longer to hit the breaks, and got in more accidents," reports Discover Magazine.
Wait a minute. If it's safe to assume that more people use cell phones than alcohol while driving, and cell phone users "got in more accidents" than the drinkers, why don't the statistics reflect this?
Because something tells me that the police are more likely to whip out a Breathalyzer than check your call log. Plus, only one of the two impairments is illegal in Florida.
While I am not against using cell phones while driving, I am against leaving your common sense at home. Driving in a late-afternoon monsoon? Don't use the phone. Weaving through heavy traffic? Don't use the phone. Been drinking heavily all evening? Don't use the phone, because drunk dials are obnoxious. And don't think about driving your car either, because everyone will hear the alert coming from your Nissan.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
College Promotes Drug Addiction
Spend enough time on any college campus, and you will see that most students ingest some sort of caffeinated beverage daily, whether it's soda, an energy drink or coffee. According to Newsweek, we don't drink our daily lattes for the taste: We drink them because we are addicted to caffeine.
This revelation explains so much our culture, such as why people willingly drink Red Bull. For the three people out there who have never tried the beverage, Red Bull tastes like liquefied Smarties in club soda; in other words, it is disgusting.
All this time, I just thought my classmates had lost their minds and taste buds, but it turns out they are just addicted to the caffeine. As ridiculous as caffeine addiction sounds, quitting the habit may lead to side effects other than difficulty waking up.
"More than 50 percent of caffeine drinkers experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop," Newsweek reports.
Laugh now, but apparently caffeine withdrawal is a legit disorder, according to a study conducted by John Hopkins Medicine. The most common withdrawal symptom the study's participants experienced was headache; the second most common was "significant distress or functional impairment."
And while caffeine will keep you awake for your next class, it may also keep you awake when you are actually trying to sleep.
I know, I know: That's what sleeping pills are for, right?
Yeah, if you want eat a buttered cigarette in your sleep.
New Scientist reports that using the drug zolpidem, which is found in popular sleep aids Ambien, Stilnoct and Stilnox, may increase the likelihood of sleep-eating, a rare condition which is exactly what it sounds like. CBS lists the signs of sleep-eating as -- no lie -- missing food, crumbs in bed and unexplained weight gain.
These could also be signs that your girlfriend is pregnant, especially if her "unexplained weight gain" is in her midsection.
Like pregnant women, sleep-eaters crave the most disgusting food combinations they can find, such as raw bacon, salt sandwiches and the aforementioned buttered cigarette. A friend of mine used to skip the cigarette and just eat butter in his sleep.
Given my food cravings, I don't think I would use condiments at all if I was a sleep-eater. Ice cream, snack cakes and Cheetos are all plausible, but salt? Butter? Barf. The upside is that the sleep-eaters seem to realize their inability to operate the stove, which they would probably leave on during their feeding frenzy.
Other odd side effects that are possible with Ambien are hallucinations and amnesia, reports New Scientist.
As a former insomniac, the pros of the sleeping pills outweigh the cons: We need sleep like a caffeine addict needs a cup of coffee, and a lack of either can lead to "significant distress or functional impairment." Plus there are other brands of sleep aids out there, although their possible side effects may be as strange.
If you have difficulty falling asleep at night, there may be a cheaper solution than those pricey sleep aids: Try cutting back on your caffeine intake, and if all else fails, read a textbook.
This revelation explains so much our culture, such as why people willingly drink Red Bull. For the three people out there who have never tried the beverage, Red Bull tastes like liquefied Smarties in club soda; in other words, it is disgusting.
All this time, I just thought my classmates had lost their minds and taste buds, but it turns out they are just addicted to the caffeine. As ridiculous as caffeine addiction sounds, quitting the habit may lead to side effects other than difficulty waking up.
"More than 50 percent of caffeine drinkers experience withdrawal symptoms when they stop," Newsweek reports.
Laugh now, but apparently caffeine withdrawal is a legit disorder, according to a study conducted by John Hopkins Medicine. The most common withdrawal symptom the study's participants experienced was headache; the second most common was "significant distress or functional impairment."
And while caffeine will keep you awake for your next class, it may also keep you awake when you are actually trying to sleep.
I know, I know: That's what sleeping pills are for, right?
Yeah, if you want eat a buttered cigarette in your sleep.
New Scientist reports that using the drug zolpidem, which is found in popular sleep aids Ambien, Stilnoct and Stilnox, may increase the likelihood of sleep-eating, a rare condition which is exactly what it sounds like. CBS lists the signs of sleep-eating as -- no lie -- missing food, crumbs in bed and unexplained weight gain.
These could also be signs that your girlfriend is pregnant, especially if her "unexplained weight gain" is in her midsection.
Like pregnant women, sleep-eaters crave the most disgusting food combinations they can find, such as raw bacon, salt sandwiches and the aforementioned buttered cigarette. A friend of mine used to skip the cigarette and just eat butter in his sleep.
Given my food cravings, I don't think I would use condiments at all if I was a sleep-eater. Ice cream, snack cakes and Cheetos are all plausible, but salt? Butter? Barf. The upside is that the sleep-eaters seem to realize their inability to operate the stove, which they would probably leave on during their feeding frenzy.
Other odd side effects that are possible with Ambien are hallucinations and amnesia, reports New Scientist.
As a former insomniac, the pros of the sleeping pills outweigh the cons: We need sleep like a caffeine addict needs a cup of coffee, and a lack of either can lead to "significant distress or functional impairment." Plus there are other brands of sleep aids out there, although their possible side effects may be as strange.
If you have difficulty falling asleep at night, there may be a cheaper solution than those pricey sleep aids: Try cutting back on your caffeine intake, and if all else fails, read a textbook.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Bicycler Beware: Helmets May Cause Accidents
College students and bicycles are a match made in heaven: you stay in shape, save money and can always find a parking spot. The downside is you are more likely to be injured in an accident on a bike than if you were in a car, and it turns out that your helmet may be to blame.
A psychologist at the University of Bath in England hooked sensors onto his bicycle and rode around town to see which types of bicyclists are given the most room by cars. He found that motorists tend to drive closer to bike riders wearing helmets than those without, and that men wearing long-haired wigs (which are supposed to represent women) are given more room than men with shorter hair.
Granted, one man on a bike does not make for a very convincing study, but the results are a bit unnerving. Do we actually drive closer to bicyclists who are wearing helmets? Is it because we secretly hope a helmet makes someone safer, or is a helmet like a big sign reminding us not to push the proverbial red button?
Since I constantly see cars driving all over the bike lane, I like to think we Floridians are equal-opportunity bicyclist maimers; helmet or no helmet, male or female, someday we will hit you all. On a broader level, though, it is more difficult to check someone out if he or she is wearing a helmet, so you may need to get that extra inch or two closer to see if the person is worth pursuing.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2004 bicycle safety data (in pdf format) backs up the claim that guys on bikes are more likely to be injured than girls. The report states that 6,000 male "pedalcyclists," a term which neither dictionary.com nor Merriam-Webster can define, between the ages of 16 and 24 were injured that year, as compared to 2,000 female bicyclers in the same age range.
You may be thinking, "Hey! That data says nothing about the riders' head coverings!" Look again: In terms of gender, the University of Bath study doesn't either, so we are good to go.
Anyway, some can argue that more guys use bicycles than girls, but I think guys are just more likely to do stupid things, such as ride a bike into oncoming traffic.
Already ahead of the game is Swiss company Ribcap, which sells hats designed to help cushion your fall. Marketed toward skiers and snowboarders, Ribcap's beanies may also fool drivers into thinking that you are not wearing some sort of helmet while riding your bike.
The beanies are made with d3o, a material that is soft and flexible when bent slowly, but instantly hardens upon impact. The material was also used in the suits worn by U.S. and Canadian skiers in the 2006 Olympics.
While beanies are not the most practical head coverings in hot, humid Florida, they are probably more stylish than a helmet. I will not buy one strictly on principle: I cannot ride a bike (bad knees), and I look terrible in hats.
Clothing companies Quicksilver and Ignite are going to start carrying similar beanies this winter. Much like helmets, they will not prevent a broken leg or keep your pretty face from getting road rash, so still use common sense while "pedalcycling."
A psychologist at the University of Bath in England hooked sensors onto his bicycle and rode around town to see which types of bicyclists are given the most room by cars. He found that motorists tend to drive closer to bike riders wearing helmets than those without, and that men wearing long-haired wigs (which are supposed to represent women) are given more room than men with shorter hair.
Granted, one man on a bike does not make for a very convincing study, but the results are a bit unnerving. Do we actually drive closer to bicyclists who are wearing helmets? Is it because we secretly hope a helmet makes someone safer, or is a helmet like a big sign reminding us not to push the proverbial red button?
Since I constantly see cars driving all over the bike lane, I like to think we Floridians are equal-opportunity bicyclist maimers; helmet or no helmet, male or female, someday we will hit you all. On a broader level, though, it is more difficult to check someone out if he or she is wearing a helmet, so you may need to get that extra inch or two closer to see if the person is worth pursuing.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's 2004 bicycle safety data (in pdf format) backs up the claim that guys on bikes are more likely to be injured than girls. The report states that 6,000 male "pedalcyclists," a term which neither dictionary.com nor Merriam-Webster can define, between the ages of 16 and 24 were injured that year, as compared to 2,000 female bicyclers in the same age range.
You may be thinking, "Hey! That data says nothing about the riders' head coverings!" Look again: In terms of gender, the University of Bath study doesn't either, so we are good to go.
Anyway, some can argue that more guys use bicycles than girls, but I think guys are just more likely to do stupid things, such as ride a bike into oncoming traffic.
Already ahead of the game is Swiss company Ribcap, which sells hats designed to help cushion your fall. Marketed toward skiers and snowboarders, Ribcap's beanies may also fool drivers into thinking that you are not wearing some sort of helmet while riding your bike.
The beanies are made with d3o, a material that is soft and flexible when bent slowly, but instantly hardens upon impact. The material was also used in the suits worn by U.S. and Canadian skiers in the 2006 Olympics.
While beanies are not the most practical head coverings in hot, humid Florida, they are probably more stylish than a helmet. I will not buy one strictly on principle: I cannot ride a bike (bad knees), and I look terrible in hats.
Clothing companies Quicksilver and Ignite are going to start carrying similar beanies this winter. Much like helmets, they will not prevent a broken leg or keep your pretty face from getting road rash, so still use common sense while "pedalcycling."
Monday, July 23, 2007
One Step Closer to the Robot Revolution
Some scientists recently made a breakthrough in their ongoing efforts to instill fear into the hearts of the global population: they are replacing humans with machines.
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology are working on the next generation of androids, which could easily surpass clowns as the scariest humanoids on Earth.
In order to make these robots more life-like, and therefore more terrifying (although Wired uses terms like "appealing"), these androids will have flexible spines to increase their range of motion and improve their balance.
Jimmy Or, of the Korea Advanced Institute hopes these machines will be a big hit in the field of geriatrics. Yes, you read that correctly: He wants to mix electronics and old people.
"Due to the aging population worldwide (especially in Japan), there is a need for robots to be humanized in order to communicate more naturally and take care of the elderly," Or told Wired.
I am fairly certain Or has good intentions, but I don't think androids would be well received in America. While elderly Asians may be open to technology, I, for one, know that my American grandma is afraid to use her cell phone, let alone interact with a robot.
I am also worried this will bring our culture one step closer to having "Stepford wives." I don't expect anyone to marry a robotic nurse, but where will the line be drawn once the technology further progresses?
You can read more about the androids here.
If full-fledged robots are too much for you to handle, you could always just purchase an arm.
Scottish company Touch Bionics has created a bionic arm which has fingers that can move individually, and functions like a human limb. Wearers of the i-LIMB can now turn a key in a lock, hold playing cards and give someone the finger -- with both hands.
While the arm deserves praise for its abilities, its major drawback is that it needs to be recharged overnight. What happens if -- God forbid -- there is a power surge? You have an $18,500 paperweight if it's not on a surge protector. Caught outside in a storm? Hello, lightning rod.
You cannot take the arm on a rural camping adventure or a weekend sailing trip, because you would have no way to charge it. It seems like the times when you would need two hands the most, you cannot bring the arm with you (although I suppose you could throw it at a bear, or wave it around if trying to signal a helicopter).
All things considered, the bionic arm is an amazing invention and will be a great help to the non-adventurous people who are missing a limb. If you ever have to face amputation, you now know that you can still lead a normal life with two functioning arms.
You can see a video of the i-LIMB in action here and read more about it here.
And although it may seem silly to fear androids but adore a bionic limb, I have decided that I'd rather be chased by Thing from the Addams Family than Star Wars' C-3PO.
Lastly on the robotics front, scientists have now found a replacement for Jesus, or rather, replicated his supposed walk across water.
Called water strider robots, these useless mechanical insects can walk across water's surface tension at a whopping three centimeters per second. Scientific American mentions that the bugs are cheap to produce, so once they hit the market, you could probably buy a couple and watch them fight... slowly.
Considering that a needle can also be supported by surface tension, I fail to see how this invention is as exciting as the articles make it seem. The "Jesus bugs" themselves have no real purpose, so why make a fake one? To say it can be done? It has about as much justification as a hotdog eating contest or winning America's Next Top Model, except the "bug" makers probably won't get a cool trophy or meet Tyra Banks.
To read more about the bugs, go here or here.
Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology are working on the next generation of androids, which could easily surpass clowns as the scariest humanoids on Earth.
In order to make these robots more life-like, and therefore more terrifying (although Wired uses terms like "appealing"), these androids will have flexible spines to increase their range of motion and improve their balance.
Jimmy Or, of the Korea Advanced Institute hopes these machines will be a big hit in the field of geriatrics. Yes, you read that correctly: He wants to mix electronics and old people.
"Due to the aging population worldwide (especially in Japan), there is a need for robots to be humanized in order to communicate more naturally and take care of the elderly," Or told Wired.
I am fairly certain Or has good intentions, but I don't think androids would be well received in America. While elderly Asians may be open to technology, I, for one, know that my American grandma is afraid to use her cell phone, let alone interact with a robot.
I am also worried this will bring our culture one step closer to having "Stepford wives." I don't expect anyone to marry a robotic nurse, but where will the line be drawn once the technology further progresses?
You can read more about the androids here.
If full-fledged robots are too much for you to handle, you could always just purchase an arm.
Scottish company Touch Bionics has created a bionic arm which has fingers that can move individually, and functions like a human limb. Wearers of the i-LIMB can now turn a key in a lock, hold playing cards and give someone the finger -- with both hands.
While the arm deserves praise for its abilities, its major drawback is that it needs to be recharged overnight. What happens if -- God forbid -- there is a power surge? You have an $18,500 paperweight if it's not on a surge protector. Caught outside in a storm? Hello, lightning rod.
You cannot take the arm on a rural camping adventure or a weekend sailing trip, because you would have no way to charge it. It seems like the times when you would need two hands the most, you cannot bring the arm with you (although I suppose you could throw it at a bear, or wave it around if trying to signal a helicopter).
All things considered, the bionic arm is an amazing invention and will be a great help to the non-adventurous people who are missing a limb. If you ever have to face amputation, you now know that you can still lead a normal life with two functioning arms.
You can see a video of the i-LIMB in action here and read more about it here.
And although it may seem silly to fear androids but adore a bionic limb, I have decided that I'd rather be chased by Thing from the Addams Family than Star Wars' C-3PO.
Lastly on the robotics front, scientists have now found a replacement for Jesus, or rather, replicated his supposed walk across water.
Called water strider robots, these useless mechanical insects can walk across water's surface tension at a whopping three centimeters per second. Scientific American mentions that the bugs are cheap to produce, so once they hit the market, you could probably buy a couple and watch them fight... slowly.
Considering that a needle can also be supported by surface tension, I fail to see how this invention is as exciting as the articles make it seem. The "Jesus bugs" themselves have no real purpose, so why make a fake one? To say it can be done? It has about as much justification as a hotdog eating contest or winning America's Next Top Model, except the "bug" makers probably won't get a cool trophy or meet Tyra Banks.
To read more about the bugs, go here or here.
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